But it’s not because they don’t want people dressed up as cows traipsing through their airport enjoying some chicken nuggets. In fact, it has nothing to do with their delicious food or impeccable service. (Because who could object to that, really?)

Rather, these cities have blocked Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in their airports because of Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s religious beliefs – specifically, the biblical belief that God created marriage to be between one man and one woman – and because Chick-fil-A has donated to organizations that share this belief.

It seems that government officials in Texas, New York, and California are actually the ones that need to explain their hostile behavior.

The government cannot exclude Chick-fil-A from a government contract simply because it doesn’t like the religious beliefs of its owner. That’s anti-religious hostility. And it’s unconstitutional.

And it’s why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an investigation into San Antonio’s decision to ban Chick-fil-A from its airport and sued for access to public documents after the city refused to produce them. The Federal Aviation Administration has also launched an investigation into the city’s ban of the restaurant from its airport.

At What Cost?

San Antonio’s decision to punish Chick-fil-A for its beliefs comes at a cost.

If the government can banish certain businesses from the marketplace simply because of their religious beliefs about marriage, that should concern us all.

It might be Chick-fil-A’s beliefs that the government doesn’t like today, but it could be your beliefs tomorrow. And a government that has the power to exclude Chick-fil-A because of its beliefs can exclude any other organization for its beliefs.

As companies become more and more open about the values they support, this could become a big problem.

You don’t have to agree with Chick-fil-A about its beliefs – you don’t even have to dress up as a cow and stand in line for a chicken sandwich – but we should all support its freedom to express its beliefs. If Chick-fil-A doesn’t have that freedom, then none of us do.

Sarah Kramer

Digital Content Specialist

Sarah worked as an investigative reporter before joining the Alliance Defending Freedom team.